"Welcome, Lost One," the female vampire declared.
Instinctively, I braced myself for a fight, scanning the area for a possible escape route.
But deep down, I already knew… I couldn’t win against what stood before me.
Above her head, the system displayed: Liliana, First Progenitor | LVL ???
No exits.
The entire area was sealed in a crimson barrier.
Blood Prison.
One of the most powerful monster barriers, and this vampire had trapped me inside it.
"There's no need for such hostility, Lost One," she said calmly.
"With your current strength, you stand no chance against me", she added while smiling.
She wasn’t wrong.
But if she truly intended to kill me, I would’ve been dead the moment I stepped into this place.
Even so, I unsheathed my dagger, refusing to lower my guard.
"What do you seek, Lost One?" she asked.
"Power? Wealth? Fame?", she added.
"Everything," I replied without hesitation.
She studied me, amusement flickering in her crimson eyes.
"And what exactly do you mean by that?" she asked.
"I want power to protect the weak, wealth to provide for the poor, and fame to guide the lost."
It was Grandpa’s favorite phrase, the answer he always said he would give if a djinn ever asked him for his wishes.
And it was one of the guiding principles he lived by throughout his life as a Sword Saint.
The vampire let out a soft laugh. "Such greed, Lost One."
Then, with a smirk, she added, "If you can survive my attacks, I will give you everything."
It was an absurd offer, but one I couldn’t refuse.
After all, the only thing at stake was an hour of progress.
"I'll take that deal", I replied.
The vampire’s smile widened.
"I am Liliana Bloodmoon, the First Progenitor."
Her aura darkened.
Malice radiated from her.
The next attack, she meant to kill me.
Then, before I could react, she began chanting.
“Diluvium coccineum surge, perfora carnem, vincula animam, omnia in tormento aeterno submerge”
Her voice chanted at an inhumane speed, the words incomprehensible to my ears.
But I caught the final phrase, one I never wanted to hear if I intended to survive.
"Forbidden Skill: Blood Paradise."
The room was instantly submerged in a sea of crimson.
Instinct took over, I leapt onto the nearby coffin.
From all sides, blood spears materialized and shot toward me while blood chains almost caught my legs..
I dodged as best as I could, but my speed wasn’t enough.
I could see the attacks coming, but my body lagged behind my thoughts.
No choice.
I activated Backstab, teleporting behind Liliana in an instant… just in time to avoid the incoming barrage.
She seemed genuinely surprised by my move.
Every Forbidden Skill had a drawback.
And judging by the thousands of blood spears trajectory, I noticed something… a single safe zone.
A one-meter radius in the very center of the attack. Right where Liliana stood.
It made sense.
A skill this powerful shouldn’t harm the caster.
After a few moments, the bloodstorm ceased.
Liliana’s eyes gleamed with interest.
"You have quite the keen eye, Lost One" she stated
"You have passed my test", she added.
A system notification appeared before me.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
You have received the Vampiric Skill Tree.
The system announcement caught me off guard, I had let my guard down.
Before I could react, Liliana sank her fangs into my neck.
"For passing my test, Lost One, I grant you Time," she whispered.
A new system notification flashed before me.
Skill Obtained: No Longer Human.
Suddenly, my vision turned blood-red.
Through the crimson haze, I saw Liliana step in front of me, her expression playful.
She smiled one last time before fading into the darkness.
I blinked, and my vision returned to normal.
She was gone.
No trace of her, not even the coffin or the empty throne.
For a moment, I thought I had imagined it all, until I checked my character window.
No Longer Human – A skill that allows the player to temporarily become a vampire and use vampiric abilities.
"A weird interaction, but a skill is a skill," I muttered.
This was exactly why I hated vampires.
They were absurdly powerful, unpredictable, and had the strangest personalities.
Surprisingly, I had already reached level 40.
Checking the log, I found out why…
For some reason, I had completed a hidden quest:
Amusing the Queen of the Night
The rewards? A massive EXP boost and 10,000 gold.
"I can buy whatever weapon I want now," I thought.
Since there was no reason to keep farming players in the labyrinth, I decided to head back to Silverbane and start preparing for my advancement test.
I immediately purchased the Scarlet Blood Scythe blueprint from the Exchange for 1,000 gold.
Then, I gathered the necessary materials, I mean buy the materials in the Exchange:
Heart of a Bloodred Salamander – 150 gold
Eye of a Cyclops – 200 gold
10 Titanium Ingots – 400 gold
Crafting fee – 250 gold
Total spent: 2,000 gold.
"It's way too easy to spend money you didn’t work for," I thought to myself.
Scarlet Blood Scythe
Weapon Type: Interchanges between a Kusarigama (chain & sickle) and a scythe.
Effects:
Increases Blood Arts damage by 100%.
Grants a temporary buff that increases all stats based on the number of enemies (or players) defeated.
Unbreakable.
Since I had acquired vampiric abilities, I might as well wield a weapon that amplified their power.
Dark Spectral armor Set
With my remaining gold, I finally bought the armor set I had been waiting to use for my future Reaper Class.
Set Effects:
Grants immunity to immobilizing effects like bind, stun, freeze, and petrify.
Increases attack speed and movement speed by 50% while HP is above 75%.
Unlocks Walking Mirage skill.
If equipped by a Phantom, grants three additional charges of Walking Mirage.
Allows the user to wield Kusarigama and scythe weapons.
Though the Dark Spectral Armor had lower base defense than other rare sets and lacked resistance to elemental damage, except for dark attributes.
Its mobility boost and special abilities made it perfect for a Reaper hybrid build.
Now that I was level 40, it was time to take my Advancement Quest.
Shinobi, like Samurai, is one of the few special Advanced Classes that cannot access an Ultimate Class.
However, it has the lowest level requirement among Advanced Classes and can even be used as a subclass for certain unique classes, like the Reaper Class.
The only issue? The Advancement Quest requires me to defeat a Level 60 Special Dungeon Boss.
Most players don’t even bother attempting it solo.
They just hire high-level players to take down the boss for them.
The monster I need to defeat is the Tengu, a formidable boss residing in The Abandoned Mountain.
I had fought it multiple times before, helping out guild members who needed it, but that was when I was already using an Advanced Class.
Like the Harpy, the Tengu specializes in wind-based attacks, but on an entirely different level.
Feather Storm – A massive AoE attack with high DPS. The only way to survive is to get out of range.
Cyclone Slash – The Tengu teleports behind the farthest player and unleashes a flurry of wind blades for an instant execution.
Feather Slash – The Tengu wields a feather sword that instantly kills any player below 30% HP and reduces max HP by 10% per hit.
It also applies a healing block debuff for one minute.
Meaning, if the Tengu lands six attacks, it’s a guaranteed death.
With its extreme mobility and attack speed, any low-level player without proper movement skills would be wiped out in seconds.
I headed toward The Abandoned Mountain to defeat the Tengu after I got my Advancement Quest.
To my surprise, there were quite a few players gathered around the entrance, most heavily geared.
My guess? They were mercenaries selling Tengu-killing services.
"Sir, is 100 gold enough?" a newbie player asked hesitantly.
"No, you need at least 300 gold," the well-equipped player responded.
"I only have 200 gold, is that enough, brother?" another newbie chimed in.
"Nope. It’s 300 gold per person," the mercenary said flatly.
"That’s ridiculous," I thought.
A complete ripoff.
"But it took us a whole week to save up this much…" one of the newbies muttered.
"Then go grind for another week," the mercenary laughed.
I glanced at his guild emblem, DarkMoon, one of the largest guilds in the American Server.
I waited to see if anyone would offer to help the struggling players, but all I saw were DarkMoon emblems everywhere.
Feeling rebellious, I made my move.
I approached the two players.
"Want to tag along?" I asked.
"What do you mean?" one of them looked up, confused.
"Let’s form a party. I’ll help you take down the Tengu."
Their eyes lit up with excitement.
"Phantomlord?" the mercenary read my in-game name aloud, his expression darkening.
He was clearly not happy about my interference.
"Is there a problem?" I asked, unfazed.
"You’re level 40. And you think you can beat the Tengu?" he scoffed.
"You weren’t offering your services, so why do you care?" I countered, getting under his skin.
His name, Dark Ice, flashed before me. Level 62, Shinobi class.
I ignored him and sent the party invite.
The two newbies eagerly accepted.
"Let’s go," I said, leading them toward the dungeon entrance.
Dark Ice just stood there, glaring at us, then smirked.
As we stepped inside, I saw his guildmates gathering around him.
He’s definitely up to something.